1 Basics
Every job in this handbook names a sieve size, a shape and whether the material is washed. These five short pages explain what those words mean and how much to order.
- 1.1Reading a sieve sizeWhat 0–4 and 8–16 mean, and why a size that starts at 0 includes fines while 4–8 has none.
- 1.2Crushed or roundedCrushed stone locks together under load. Rounded stone flows, packs easily and drains.
- 1.3Washed or unwashedConcrete, mortar and drainage need the fines washed out. Bases and fill need them left in.
- 1.4Ordering the right amountArea × thickness, plus what the layer loses when compacted, converted to tonnes. With a calculator.
- 1.5Size names around the worldEN sizes, rounded labels, US size numbers and inch names lined up in one table.
Three questions before you order
| Question | Choices | Short answer |
|---|---|---|
| What size? | 0–4, 8–16, 0–32 … | The largest grain must fit the layer: no more than about ⅓ of its thickness. See 1.1. |
| Crushed or rounded? | Crushed, rounded | Crushed for anything that carries load. Rounded where it must flow. Both work in concrete and drainage. See 1.2. |
| Washed or not? | Washed, with fines | Washed for concrete, mortar and drainage. With fines for bases and fill that must compact. See 1.3. |
Words used in this handbook
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Aggregate | Sand, gravel and crushed rock used in building. |
| Sieve size | Two numbers in mm, smallest and largest sieve. 8–16 passes a 16 mm sieve and stays on an 8 mm sieve. |
| Sand | Fine aggregate: everything up to 4 mm, starting at 0. For example 0–2 or 0–4. |
| Stone | Coarse aggregate: largest size 4 mm or more, smallest size 2 mm or more. For example 4–8 or 16–32. |
| All-in | Sand and stone in one, starting at 0, up to 45 mm. For example 0–16. |
| Fines | Grains so small they pass a 0.063 mm sieve: silt, clay and rock dust. US standards use 0.075 mm. |
| Graded | A spread of sizes from small to large, so the small grains fill the gaps. Compacts dense. |
| Single-size | A narrow size such as 8–16, with open gaps between the stones. Drains. |
| Crushed | Quarried rock, blasted and broken in a crusher. Angular grains. |
| Rounded | Natural gravel and sand, rounded while rivers or glacial meltwater carried it. Dug from river, glacial, beach and sea-bed deposits. |
| Washed | Rinsed with water to remove fines. |
| Compaction | Pressing a layer with a plate compactor or roller so the grains pack tighter. |
| Bulk density | Weight per volume of a heap or layer, in t/m³. Loose and compacted values differ. See 1.4. |
Why the basics matter
Size, shape and washing decide how a material behaves: whether it compacts, drains or binds with cement. That is why every page in chapters 2 to 9 names all three.
Definitions from EN 12620 (sizes, fines, sand, stone, all-in) and the USGS report on natural aggregates (crushed and rounded). Each page lists its own sources.
Chapter 1
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